Dawn's Destiny: One of Us
by Little Miss Dancer Girl
Summary: Dawn Terry has earned her rightful spot in the gang as Johnny's girl, but when it's the summertime, things are bound to happen. Adopted from Funghost4000.
1. Who's Up For Ice Cream?

**Author's Note: ****This story was originally written by Funghost4000, so I would recommend reading her part first or else this won't make much sense. I hope this chapter does her story justice. Sorry it's so short. Enjoy!**

I woke up to Soda shaking me furiously.

"C'mon, Pony, Dar and I got the day off today!" he said excitedly. With that I shot up like a bullet. "Alright, kiddo, get ready. I'm makin' pancakes this mornin'!" he laughed and left me to get dressed.

At the table sat Darry, Johnny, and Dawn. The two of them stayed here overnight because Darry insisted that they shouldn't go back home to their abusive families. Neither of them protested; Dawn's decision on not ever going back was final, and Johnny couldn't leave her. At the stove, Soda was still flipping the pancakes. Turns out, they were blue this morning.

"Hey, Pony," Dawn greeted me, smiling. I took a seat in between the other empty chair and Johnny. He was smiling almost as much as her this morning. I could easily tell that Dawn made Johnny so happy these days; before we met her, he was rarely in a good mood.

"What're you two doin' today, Johnnycakes?" I asked him.

Almost as if he were in a daze, he answered, "Just a walk to the park."

"If you want we could all get some ice cream or something later, though," Dawn offered. Even though she'd been through so much, she really went out of her way to please us. Just another thing she had in common with Johnny. Man, those two were perfect for each other.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, Dawn," Darry said, finally looking up from the newspaper he held in front of him. "Pony needs to get out more, seeing how it's July already."

Soda then came over with the blue pancakes and gave each of us two. "Two? Soda, I ain't a little kid no more," I complained. Even though Soda's cooking looks like it came from another solar system, it tasted even better than Mom's. Two pancakes weren't nearly enough.

"Pone, you can have seconds; I've made enough for all of us to have thirds," Soda replied with a grin, sitting in the only empty chair.

"Oh, glory; I'm starved," Johnny sighed, his eyes getting googly at the sight of the food.

I was actually looking forward to today.


	2. I Don't Dig Horror Movies

**Author's Note:**** I am so, so sorry for not updating in so long! I had to finish my other stories first, so now it's just this and Family Ties. I had a lot of things going on but I've luckily managed to write this.**

**I apologize for this being so long, but this fanfic is actually just a series of adventures/mini events that occur day-to-day for Dawn and the gang. Each chapter is a different thing, so each of them could kinda stand alone as a one-shot (except for this chapter, which is just an add-on to the last one).**

**Thanks for reading this extremely long drabble-like author's note, and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>I Don't Dig Horror Movies<p>

(Dawn's POV)

Licking my chocolate ice cream cone, I began to ponder my life. Every morning, I would look at myself in the mirror, and every time I would see this plain-Jane with dull eyes and a vacant face.

But when Johnny tells me I'm beautiful, I feel like half of me wants to agree, but the other half tells me he's only saying that to make me happy. I don't understand why he would want to make anyone like me very happy, though, seeing how I'm not an ideal girl in anyone's eyes. But I look over at him, with vanilla ice cream all over his face, and I manage a smile. He accepted me for who I was; he's seen through the mask I wear every day. Although he may seem like just another greaser guy in Tulsa, Johnny Cade was special.

"That was delicious," Pony sighed, finishing off his cookies and cream cone.

Johnny wiped his mouth and cleared his throat. "So, Dawn… How 'bout we all go to the movies now?" he asked, keeping the reminder subtle.

At this I stood up with a start. "Golly, Johnny, we've taken so long there might not be any good movies playing anymore!" I huffed, and the three of us ran back to the DX, where Soda, a.k.a. our chauffeur, was hanging around with the gang, with Johnny and Pony losing their breath as they laughed at my sudden burst of energy.

When we were inside, Soda and Steve were at the front desk, tending to the crowd of girls surrounding it. Scratch that; Steve was tending to the crowd, and Soda was flirting with them.

I overheard some of what Soda said to this one girl with bright red lipstick and brown hair pulled up into a ponytail with a blue ribbon. Like the majority of the other girls who were there, her clothes were too small and she wore too much eye makeup.

"Look, Joyce, maybe next weekend. I got the day off then, ya dig?"

Joyce sighed dramatically. "Yeah, I dig, Sodapop. I'll see ya then," she moaned and left with half of the crowd, their butts hanging out from under their skirts.

Before Soda could get distracted with another fangirl, Ponyboy playfully punched him in the shoulder. "Hey man, you gonna switch gears and drive us to the movies or are you gonna just stand there and let these girls drool all over you?" he asked him.

"Yeesh, cool it kid," Soda said, holding his hands up in mock surrender, then gave his little brother a noogie. "I'll take y'all to the movies; just wait a sec." He yelled to Steve, who was trying desperately to keep up with the girls' orders as he foraged through the ice box. "Hey, Steve, I gotta drive Pony, Johnny, and Dawn to the movies; be right back!"

Steve yelled over the girls' voices right back at him. "Well don't just stand there; I could really use some help here!"

* * *

><p>"Heh, that was pretty good," I said as the three of us left the movie house. None of us really liked it, though. It was a bloody, gory horror movie, where vampires sucked people's blood and everybody pretty much dies. It shook us up pretty bad, to say the least. It reminded me of home, with those people beating me up and my parents in a mental facility. Just when I was starting to move on…<p>

I snatched a handful of Johnny's popcorn and Ponyboy just slurped his Coke while we otherwise silently walked down the street on our way back to the parking lot, where Soda said he would be waiting for us to drive us back to the DX so we could walk home without going through Soc territory. On the way, we passed by a red Mustang, and Johnny handed the popcorn to Ponyboy and put his arm around me. I could feel his heartbeat speed up—beat-beat…beat-beat…beat-beat, beat-beat, be-beat-be-beat-be-beat….

I couldn't see any Socs inside, but then I heard muffled curses coming from inside the car. Now even Ponyboy looked nervous, and I felt my palms get all clammy.

Luckily, Soda pulled up next to us, minimizing our walk, and we gratefully hopped in.

"Thanks," I said lamely.

We rode back to the DX in silence, not knowing what to say to calm ourselves; only some background music was on the radio.

"Okay, kids, fun's over," Soda announced sarcastically once we arrived.

Boy oh boy, I will never watch horror movies again.


End file.
